1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to payment validators. More particularly, the present invention relates to payment validators into which a user can insert a payment document such as a ticket or currency, thereby obtaining credit for gaming.
2. Description of Related Art
Many machines now employ payment validators, commonly known as “bill acceptors” or “bill validators,” which accept payment documents such as currency or cashless tickets. The terms “payment validator,” “bill acceptor” and “bill validator” will be used interchangeably herein. The bill validator includes a feeder or a similar device for allowing a user to introduce the payment document into the bill validator. The bill validator also includes one or more devices for evaluating the type and/or denomination of the payment document. For example, some bill validators include devices for recognizing patterns that are characteristic of, e.g., a $20 bill.
As will be appreciated by those familiar with the gaming industry, bill validators have been added to a number of different gaming machines (such as slot machines, video poker machines, etc.). Special precautions must be taken when removing payment documents from gaming machines. It is not uncommon for slot machines to store upwards of $20,000 between collection cycles. To maintain the necessary security, it has become increasingly common to store payment documents collected by a bill acceptor in a secure “collection box” (sometimes referred to as a “cash box”) that cannot be accessed by maintenance people working on the bill validator.
In addition, it has become common in the industry to provide two dedicated cash boxes for each bill validator, only one of which is disposed within a gaming machine at one time. A cash box is typically secured behind a main door of a gaming machine. When a first one of the cash boxes is collected, a second empty one of the cash boxes is installed in its place and the first cash box is delivered to the counting center. In this manner, substantial security is provided. The cash boxes are locked such that they may not be opened by the person responsible for collecting the cash boxes, unless that person has a key. Typically, the keys to the cash box are not given to the person collecting the cash box, but rather, are given to authorized personnel in a dedicated counting center.
Another drawback of prior art bill validators for the gaming industry is that the gaming machine must be opened in order to remove the collection box. In order to create the necessary level of security, opening a gaming machine is a labor-intensive process, normally involving a technician and two security guards. This procedure provides access to all the inner workings of the gaming machine. Thus, it is quite possible that a collection worker could accidentally or maliciously tamper with various machine electronics and other sensitive instrumentation. The more times that the collection box needs to be accessed, the greater the labor costs and the more opportunities there are for tampering with a gaming machine or stealing payment documents. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system for reducing the frequency of access to gaming machines' collection boxes.
Moreover, disputes sometimes arise with customers regarding payment documents used for gaming. Some customers may attempt to use a payment document to obtain more playing credits than are authorized, e.g. by pulling out a partially-introduced payment document, by making duplicate payment documents, etc. Other customers may claim that a gaming machine has not provided the proper credit for the customer's payment document(s). Therefore, it would also be desirable to provide methods and devices to more conveniently resolve disputes with gaming customers regarding payment documents.